I wanted to do this months ago but never got the time... So, now that we are finally in Season 5, I think it's finally time to say goodbye to this team with a report here on Smogon ;)
This is a team that I made specifically for a VGC tournament a while back, in Season 3. It was a pretty big tournament... and it was my first ever!
So I wanted to be prepared. I had a very strong team in the previous season but, since it was very Prankster-dependant, Incineroar made it far less optimal.
You can still find its report here on Smogon, it had a very fun core with Jolteon and Goodra: Here
I was in a hurry and I ended up building&testing the team in less than 24 hours. Luckily enough a firend lend me 5 of the pokémon I needed XD
Starting from elo 1312 and reaching 1513 in a couple of hours, with only 1 loss, then I stopped. (Reaching 1500 is my goal every time I build a new team before building it in-game).
Now take a seat, grab your juice and enjoy the ride.
The concept
Building the Team
Step #1
+
Blastoise+Indeedee was my first idea.
Step #2
Having to start from scratch I went to Pikalytics, to see the common threats... Lucario was so good against many of them.
Step #3
+
Yes, I love Dragapult's design and I was happy to find it being a really great fit into my team.
Step #4
Double Ghost not THAT common yet, but it felt natural to add Mimikyu nonetheless.
Step #5
So far the team was pretty weak to every Trickroom cores out there. Hence why I almost immediately thought of Reuniclus and Rotom-Mow.
Yup. That dirty bastard himself.
One can't always have answers to every team, so why we don't just Trick an Eject Button to a freshly Dinamaxed Pokémon? Having Priorities in the team does the rest ;)
This "cheap" strategy was thought mainly to counter Coalossal's cheap strategy. But in the end, I found no Coalossal... So I used it on Lapras instead.
Testing Process
As said before I only laddered a bit, I think a couple of hours.
Starting from elo 1312 and reaching 1513 in a couple of hours, with only 1 loss, then I stopped. (Reaching 1500 is my goal every time I build a new team before building it in-game).
In-game I managed to reach top 1000 in a period where so many people were playing, I'm pretty proud of this honesly.
Finally the day of the tournament arrived... and how did it go?
Showdown Replays
Paste
https://pokepast.es/369091ebaa768825
Rental Code
This is a team that I made specifically for a VGC tournament a while back, in Season 3. It was a pretty big tournament... and it was my first ever!
So I wanted to be prepared. I had a very strong team in the previous season but, since it was very Prankster-dependant, Incineroar made it far less optimal.
You can still find its report here on Smogon, it had a very fun core with Jolteon and Goodra: Here
I was in a hurry and I ended up building&testing the team in less than 24 hours. Luckily enough a firend lend me 5 of the pokémon I needed XD
Starting from elo 1312 and reaching 1513 in a couple of hours, with only 1 loss, then I stopped. (Reaching 1500 is my goal every time I build a new team before building it in-game).
Now take a seat, grab your juice and enjoy the ride.
The concept
Intimidate was a problem, but this gen there are a lot of solutions to it. Not to mention it is Fire/Dark - an exploitable typing.
Building the Team
Step #1
Blastoise+Indeedee was my first idea.
- Unaffected by Intimidate.
- Strong against Fire types.
- Has a deadly combo in Water Spout/Shell Smash/Redirecting before dynamaxing and sweeping.
Unfortunately... I wasn't winning as much as I wanted and the team felt a bit clunky, so I decided to scrap this whole idea.
Step #2
Having to start from scratch I went to Pikalytics, to see the common threats... Lucario was so good against many of them.
- Unaffected by Intimidate and Fake out.
- Not caring about snarls.
- Has a solid priority in Bullet Punch.
- Close Combat, its main STAB, deals massive damages to almost every Pokémon in the format.
- Meteor Mash hits those who resist Close Combat - CritKiss was already replacing Weakness Policy too.
The calcs were pretty good! All I needed now was a Focus Sash and a teammate that could lower opponents Def. You know it ;)
Step #3
Yes, I love Dragapult's design and I was happy to find it being a really great fit into my team.
- Physical. Because Dragon Darts and Phantom Force can be deadly-good is used properly.
- Max Phantasm was what I needed for lowering opponents' defence while dealing big damages.
- Being so fast Dragapult can lower stats before Lucario attacks, this is deadly.
Step #4
Double Ghost not THAT common yet, but it felt natural to add Mimikyu nonetheless.
- Priority in Shadow Sneek - useful to self proc Dragapult's Weakness Policy too.
- Sword Dance + Disguise in order to power up and then go Dynamax.
Step #5
So far the team was pretty weak to every Trickroom cores out there. Hence why I almost immediately thought of Reuniclus and Rotom-Mow.
- Imprision pressure from Reuniclus.
- Reuniclus and Rotom are both immune to Sleep Powder - a common move in every TR team due to Butterfree and Venusaur.
- Rotom works perfectly against Ryperior.
- Reverse Trickoom is always a good option to have.
- Max Darkness on Rotom helps Reuniclus dealing even more pain.
- Torkoal is an issue, yet it's easy to KO with both Pokémon ganging up on it.
Yup. That dirty bastard himself.
One can't always have answers to every team, so why we don't just Trick an Eject Button to a freshly Dinamaxed Pokémon? Having Priorities in the team does the rest ;)
This "cheap" strategy was thought mainly to counter Coalossal's cheap strategy. But in the end, I found no Coalossal... So I used it on Lapras instead.
THE TEAM
Dragapult @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 76 Atk / 76 Def / 120 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Phantom Force
- Dragon Darts
- Acrobatics
- Protect
Lucario @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Protect
Mimikyu @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Disguise
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Rotom-Mow @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Dark Pulse
- Protect
Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 50
EVs: 180 HP / 84 Def / 244 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Thunder
- Imprison
- Trick Room
Liepard @ Eject Button
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Encore
- Trick
- Copycat
Dragapult @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 76 Atk / 76 Def / 120 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Phantom Force
- Dragon Darts
- Acrobatics
- Protect
Lucario @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Protect
Mimikyu @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Disguise
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Rotom-Mow @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Dark Pulse
- Protect
Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 50
EVs: 180 HP / 84 Def / 244 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Thunder
- Imprison
- Trick Room
Liepard @ Eject Button
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Encore
- Trick
- Copycat
Testing Process
As said before I only laddered a bit, I think a couple of hours.
Starting from elo 1312 and reaching 1513 in a couple of hours, with only 1 loss, then I stopped. (Reaching 1500 is my goal every time I build a new team before building it in-game).
In-game I managed to reach top 1000 in a period where so many people were playing, I'm pretty proud of this honesly.
Finally the day of the tournament arrived... and how did it go?
It was my first tournament and a massive one at that. Almost 400 players, 9 round of swiss (meaning 9 Bo3) And If you lose three times... You're out.
I won 5 Bo3 in a row! Then the first defeat happened. My opponent was pretty good, no complaints. He deserved it.
Then I won the next Bo3! But the Second loss happened right after... And this was painful...
I was absolutely crushing my opponent: First round he randomly freezes my Dragapult, on its first Dinamax turn. Second round, I was totally winning this one too, Mimikyu misses three Play Rough in a row while his Togekiss crits 4 times in 2 turns with Dazzling Gleam.
I could've easily won 2-0 this time around - mathematically entering in the Top Cut, But hax struck me hard this time around. I was so depressed after this...
Now for the last round: if I win I'm in Top Cut, if I lose I'm out.
But my opponent sais he can't battle... What's this, a forfeit? Well, after the last round I deserved some luck!
But... The admins have nonsensically decided to go for a coin flip instead.
And guess what? I lost it. Offscreen. I was still happy for the forfeit when a friend informed me about the coinflip... Guys, I was so angry.
To add salt on the wound a member of the staff sent me a message, apparently, a couple of admin pushed A LOT to make me lose.
Why? I didn't even know these people!
Well, long story short, I was so pissed off that I've stopped playing Pokémon since then - in March- so.........
I'll let you decide if you can consider this Team a "Top Cut One" or not ;)
I won 5 Bo3 in a row! Then the first defeat happened. My opponent was pretty good, no complaints. He deserved it.
Then I won the next Bo3! But the Second loss happened right after... And this was painful...
I was absolutely crushing my opponent: First round he randomly freezes my Dragapult, on its first Dinamax turn. Second round, I was totally winning this one too, Mimikyu misses three Play Rough in a row while his Togekiss crits 4 times in 2 turns with Dazzling Gleam.
I could've easily won 2-0 this time around - mathematically entering in the Top Cut, But hax struck me hard this time around. I was so depressed after this...
Now for the last round: if I win I'm in Top Cut, if I lose I'm out.
But my opponent sais he can't battle... What's this, a forfeit? Well, after the last round I deserved some luck!
But... The admins have nonsensically decided to go for a coin flip instead.
And guess what? I lost it. Offscreen. I was still happy for the forfeit when a friend informed me about the coinflip... Guys, I was so angry.
To add salt on the wound a member of the staff sent me a message, apparently, a couple of admin pushed A LOT to make me lose.
Why? I didn't even know these people!
Well, long story short, I was so pissed off that I've stopped playing Pokémon since then - in March- so.........
I'll let you decide if you can consider this Team a "Top Cut One" or not ;)
Showdown Replays
Paste
https://pokepast.es/369091ebaa768825
Rental Code
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